Democrat not ready to concede 10th District

With just 1,025 votes separating her from victory and possibly thousands more to count, Democrat Alyson Huber was not ready to concede the hard-fought and expensive race for the state Assembly's 10th District on Wednesday, saying a resolution may not come for several more days.

With just 1,025 votes separating her from victory and possibly thousands more to count, Democrat Alyson Huber was not ready to concede the hard-fought and expensive race for the state Assembly's 10th District on Wednesday, saying a resolution may not come for several more days.
With all precincts reporting, Lodi Republican Jack Sieglock held a razor-thin edge of 47 percent of the vote to Huber's 46.2 percent.
But Huber, an El Dorado Hills attorney in her first bid for public office, said Wednesday she is hoping absentee and provisional ballots yet to be counted may tip her over the edge.
"We just want to make sure every vote is counted," she said. "I don't think anyone is surprised that it's a close race. Maybe six months ago, people didn't think it would be this close. They thought it would be a safe Republican seat."
Sieglock, a former Lodi City Councilman and county supervisor, said he is cautiously awaiting those late returns to solidify his slim lead. "Obviously, they would have to make up substantial ground," he said.
Both are seeking to replace termed-out Lodi Republican Alan Nakanishi in a race Democrats targeted in their failed bid to gain a supermajority in the state Legislature. Democrats appeared to have picked up at least two of the six needed seats Tuesday.
The 10th District race was expected to be hotly contested, as the number of Republican voters in the sprawling district - which includes portions of Amador, El Dorado, Sacramento and San Joaquin counties - has decreased over the years.
Outside money poured into the race to support Huber. Labor unions and teachers groups spent nearly $1.4 million in support of Huber or against Sieglock, who benefited from independent expenditures of close to $50,000 from the California Medical Association.
Sieglock led by anywhere from 9 percentage points to 25 percentage points in San Joaquin, El Dorado and Amador counties.
But Huber was hanging on to a roughly 12-point lead in Sacramento County, an area she is eyeing closely for absentee returns.
There are about 200,000 ballots still to be counted in those four counties, but registrar officials in each county said they could not immediately determine how many of those included the District 10 race. Amador County officials could not provide a number of outstanding vote-by-mail or provisional ballots Wednesday.
The Secretary of State's Office has requested the counties report how many unprocessed ballots are outstanding by 5 p.m. today.
The election must be certified by Dec. 13.
Contact reporter Daniel Thigpen at (209) 367-7427 or dthigpen@recordnet.com.